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A World Bank-funded urban health project has recruited 240 staff under a Tk28.72 crore outsourcing contract – 186 for a specialised dengue research laboratory that does not yet exist and 54 for vector-control work in city corporations and municipalities which they “never sought”.
The recruits have been engaged for 24 months, raising concerns that their service period could largely – or even entirely – expire before the proposed laboratory is built and equipped.
Of the 240 recruits, 158 joined in July, while the remaining 82 are expected to join soon. Many of those appointed to specialised positions have no previous experience in mosquito control or vector management, according to documents and interviews.
The recruitment has also raised questions over the replacement of candidates whose CVs were submitted and evaluated during the tender process, as well as whether the deployed personnel match the actual needs of the city corporations and municipalities.
The recruitment was made under the Tk1,181.50 crore Improvement of Urban Public Health Prevention Services Project, which runs from July 2023 to June 2028 and includes research on dengue-carrying vectors.
Masranga Security Services (Pvt.) Ltd was selected to provide the outsourced manpower. 186 staff earmarked for a lab yet to be built
A tender was floated on 22 June 2025 to select a firm or NGO to provide 240 outsourcing support staff, ranging from grade 6 to grade 20.
According to project documents, 186 positions are linked to the proposed Integrated Vector Management Research Laboratory, while 54 vector-control personnel are intended for deployment to city corporations and municipalities.
The positions include vector control officers, microbiologists, vector control technicians, laboratory assistants, vector collectors, programmers, office staff, guards and cleaners.
The project proposal requires grade-6 vector control officers to have BSc and MSc degrees in zoology or entomology, or a master’s in demography or population science, but does not require previous vector-management experience. Grade-7 microbiologists similarly require relevant academic qualifications but no previous experience.
Yet city corporation officials told the Daily Sun that they had not sought the additional manpower and questioned the usefulness of personnel who lacked mosquito-management experience.
With the proposed research laboratory not yet operational, the recruits have instead been distributed among city corporations, municipalities and the project headquarters.
According to the deployment list obtained by the Daily Sun, 22 staff, including 13 vector control officers, four laboratory assistants, a vector collector, two microbiologists and two assistant microbiologists, have been assigned to the non-existent laboratory.
Another 18, including nine office assistant-cum-computer operators, have been posted at the project headquarters.
The Dhaka South City Corporation received 42 staff, including 20 vector collectors, 10 vector control officers, a microbiologist, eight vector control technicians, a laboratory assistant and two office assistant-cum-computer operators. Four of the 42 did not join, according to DSCC Chief Health Officer Dr Jahane Ferdous Binte Rahman.
Some recruits appointed as vector control officers previously worked on unrelated fisheries projects.
Asit Kumar Sarker, from Satkhira, said he had previously worked as outsourced staff on a fisheries project under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock before being appointed as a vector control officer.
Abdur Rashid, posted in DNCC Zone 6, said he had worked on a coastal fisheries project in Chattogram.
“I have never worked in mosquito control. Now I am working with spray men and visiting wards. I am worried about my future. After two years, we will be pushed aside,” he said.
The Dhaka North City Corporation received 10 vector control officers, one microbiologist, seven vector control technicians, two office assistant-cum-computer operators and 23 vector collectors.
A DNCC official, speaking anonymously, said the corporation had received personnel without mosquito-management experience.
“We have been given laboratory technicians, microbiologists and vector collectors, but some do not know mosquito management. They have never worked with mosquitoes. We cannot use them effectively. A microbiologist has even been given the responsibility of a typist,” the official said.
Ashikur Rahman, posted as a vector control officer in DNCC Zone 1, said he had previously worked on a fisheries department project in Amtali, Barguna.
Chattogram City Corporation received 11 vector control officers, a microbiologist and two computer operators.
A CCC official said the corporation did not need the outsourced vector control officers because they lacked mosquito-control experience.
“They do not know mosquito management. I told them they could join if they were able to work with spray men,” the official said.
Tarabo Municipality received four vector control officers, a vector control technician, an office assistant and two vector collectors. Savar received four vector control officers, three vector control technicians, an office assistant, a laboratory assistant and two vector collectors.
Lab still awaiting construction
The proposed facility includes a biological laboratory, insectarium, training laboratory, conference room, server room for MIS and early-warning systems, generator and lift.
The construction tender was published on 19 August and opened on 27 September, but the work order has yet to be issued. The tender for laboratory equipment and furniture has also not yet been called.
Tender candidates replaced
Documents obtained by the Daily Sun show that candidates whose CVs were submitted and evaluated during the tender process were subsequently replaced.
Masranga initially proposed ATM Moynul Hoque and Md Nazmul Hasan for assistant programmer posts, but Mohammad Khaled Masud and Masfikur Rahman were eventually appointed.
For microbiologist or biochemist posts, the proposed candidates included Md Rakibuzzaman, Noor Mohammad, Md Mahmudul Alam Khan, Md Emrul Hasan Bappi and Md Ainul Nishat. Those eventually recruited were Syed Juam, Masuma Khatun, Rubel Ahmed, Anupam Sarker Anup and Sagor Hawlader.
Masranga Securities General Manager Md Jilan Laskar said the tender process took about 11 months and the original candidates had been asked to wait.
“That’s why we had to replace them all,” he said.
However, the contract’s General Conditions of Contract (GCC) Clause 18.1 provides a specific procedure for replacing personnel:
“Except as the Employer may otherwise agree, no changes shall be made in the Personnel. If, for any reason beyond the reasonable control of the Service Provider, it becomes necessary to replace any of the Personnel, the Service Provider shall forthwith provide as a replacement a person of equivalent or higher qualifications acceptable to the Employer.”
The clause therefore requires any replacement to be of equivalent or higher qualifications and acceptable to the Employer. The available documents show that the originally proposed personnel were replaced, but it remains unclear whether the replacements were approved under the procedure set out in the GCC.
No clear operating plan
The project has hired 12 specialists to advise its management, but those involved have largely referred responsibility for operating the laboratory to the project authorities.
Project management specialist Dr Mohd Sher Ali said he had resigned and declined to comment.
Vector management specialist Rajib Chowdhury said recruitment was not his responsibility and that he was only a consultant.
“How the laboratory will be operated is something the Local Government Ministry itself will decide,” he said.
Social Specialist Shams A Rafi, who was involved in the recruitment process, said the matter was a project-management issue.
Deputy Project Director and Deputy Secretary of the Local Government Division Ziaur Rahman said the tender evaluation committee assessed the bids before approval by the Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement.
Noted entomologist and Jahangirnagar University zoology professor Kabirul Bashar questioned the use of inexperienced outsourced personnel for a specialised research facility.
“You cannot run a specialised research laboratory with outsourced staff. You can hire cleaners, guards and computer operators, but not an entomologist,” he said.
He said specialised positions should be filled by people with appropriate academic and professional expertise and that the laboratory should be led by an expert entomologist.
“The initiative was good, but they should recruit the right people. Otherwise, the laboratory will remain shut, like many other big ventures,” Kabirul Bashar said.